An apple a day won't always keep the doctor away
Date: Oct. 13, 1999
Time: 3:26 pm
With apple cider season upon us, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada warn that consumers should be cautious when consuming unpasteurized juice or cider.
Although Canada has a long history of producing safe and high quality juice and cider there have been 2 separate outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with unpasteurized apple cider, one in 1980 and another in 1998. In both cases, a batch of noncommercial, custom-pressed cider was blamed for an outbreak of foodborne illness that affected about 14 people.
Health officials say that disease-causing organisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella and others can be transmitted into fruit juice or cider if the raw fruit used to make the product comes into contact with the bacteria. Since killing these bacteria requires the application of high levels of heat through pasteurization -- this is routinely done for canned juices and ciders -- anyone consuming an unpasteurized product runs a greater risk of infection.
"Fortunately, about 95% of all products are pasteurized so the risk of infection from drinking unpasteurized products is not all that great," Terry Peters, microbiology program specialist for the CFIA's western area, told eCMAJ Today from his office in Burnaby, BC. "However a foodborne illness can have very serious effect on certain individuals."
Peters adds that the elderly, very young or those with weakened immune systems should avoid drinking unpasteurized cider or juice or boil the products first. The CFIA has also devised a code of practice to guide producers and distributors of unpasteurized fruit juice and cider to help ensure product safety.
Peters says that while people in high-risk groups should consider drinking only pasteurized products, he has faith in the CFIA code and any producer who strictly follows it. "I would certainly have no problem drinking a product that was produced in adherence to the code of practice," said Peters. "By the same token, if there were questions about whether proper sanitary procedure was followed, I would not take the chance."
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